Cost Inbox and Bills FAQ
Buildertrend Payables streamlines your entire accounts payable workflow – from the moment a bill or receipt is received to when your vendor gets paid. All bill activity is managed in one place on the Bills page and stays directly connected to your jobs.
Whether you're an office manager, bookkeeper, project manager, or part of your accounting/AP team, Buildertrend Payables keeps both field and office teams aligned while ensuring all financial data remains accurate and connected.
This FAQ covers common questions about the Cost Inbox and Bills. 
General Questions
What is Buildertrend Payables?
Buildertrend Payables is your end-to-end accounts payable workflow – from the moment a bill or receipt is received to the moment your vendor gets paid. Everything is managed in one place on the Bills page, connected directly to your jobs.
What's new with this release?
This update brings everything into one connected workflow.
Bills and receipt intake still works the same (email, bulk upload, mobile), but now all bills land in a single inbox as drafts. From there, you can review, code, approve, and pay – without switching tools or re-entering information.
Who should use Buildertrend Payables?
Anyone involved in processing bills, including:
- Office managers
- Bookkeepers
- Project managers
- Accounting/AP teams
Buildertrend Payables keeps both field and office teams in their workflows while ensuring information stays connected.
Does this change how I pay vendors?
No. If you already pay vendors through Buildertrend, that process stays the same.
Buildertrend Payables simply creates a faster, more connected path from invoice to payment with fewer manual steps.
Why manage bills in Buildertrend?
Buildertrend Payables helps you:
- Capture bills automatically (email, mobile, bulk upload)
- Reduce manual data entry with AI
- Detect duplicates before they become issues
- Maintain a single source of truth for each bill
- Assign cost codes and link to POs early
- Manage approvals and payments in one place
What is a draft bill?
A draft is a bill that’s been received but not yet finalized.
Drafts:
- Do not impact job financials
- Do not sync to accounting
- Give you time to review, edit, and approve before a bill becomes official
How do bills and receipts get into Buildertrend?
Bills can be submitted in three ways:
- Email: Forward bills to your Buildertrend intake email
- Bulk upload: Upload multiple files at once
- Mobile: Capture receipts directly from the app
In all cases, AI creates draft bill records automatically—no manual entry required.
How do approvals work?
Approvals are built directly into the bill record.
- Send for approval in one click
- Approvers review within Buildertrend
- All activity is tracked on the bill record
No emails or external tracking needed.
Will this affect my accounting sync?
No. Draft bills never sync to accounting.
Sync only occurs once a bill is finalized and saved to a job—exactly as before.
Can I link a draft to a Purchase Order?
Yes. You can link a draft to a PO immediately – even before assigning it to a job.
This helps match bills to commitments early and keep budgets accurate.
✏️Note: Draft bills, intake methods, approvals, and accounting sync behave the same across all workflows unless otherwise noted below.
For Bill Users: What's New
For builders who already use the Bills page and are seeing new capabilities.
What's changed on my Bills page?
Your Bills page now includes a built-in intake inbox, AI-assisted data entry, duplicate detection, and a connected approval workflow.
Previously, these steps required separate tools or manual effort. Now, they’re part of the Bills experience you already use.
Do I need to change how I work?
Mostly no.
You’ll notice a new Inbox tab where incoming bills and receipts land as drafts before they’re finalized. The rest of your workflow—coding, approving, and paying—happens in the same place, just with fewer steps.
What’s new in my workflow?
- Bills and receipts now enter through a centralized inbox
- Drafts provide a review stage before impacting job financials
- AI reduces manual data entry
- Duplicate detection helps prevent issues earlier
What stays the same?
- How you code bills
- How approvals are completed
- How payments are processed
- When bills sync to accounting
For Cost Inbox Users: What's New
For builders who use Cost Inbox and are transitioning to the Bills page.
Where did Cost Inbox go?
Cost Inbox is now built directly into the Bills page as its intake layer.
Instead of existing as a separate tool, it now connects directly to coding, approvals, and payments—all in one place.
What's different about my workflow?
- Intake, coding, approvals, and payments now happen in one connected workflow
- Items enter the Bills page as drafts instead of staying in a separate inbox
- You no longer need to move between tools to finish processing a bill
What stays the same?
- Forwarding bills via email
- Uploading receipts
- Submitting from mobile
- Your Cost Inbox email address
How do I make the switch?
Admins will see an opt-in banner in the legacy Cost Inbox.
After opting in, all new records will flow into the Bills page.
What happens to my existing receipts?
Nothing is deleted when you make the switch.
- Unprocessed receipts remain available for review or processing
- Previously processed records remain accessible
Does my Cost Inbox email address still work?
Yes. Your existing email address stays the same.
Invoices sent to that address will now route directly to the Bills page inbox. You can also set up a customizable company email for easier sharing with vendors.
Can I tell receipts apart from bills?
Yes. Each item is clearly labeled as a bill or receipt.
How do field teams submit receipts?
The mobile experience is unchanged.
Receipts submitted from the field will now appear as draft bills in the inbox.
How do I handle overhead (non-job) costs?
You can still capture overhead bills as usual.
To keep your inbox organized, we recommend creating an Admin or General job to assign those bills.
Do permissions change?
No. All existing permissions carry over exactly—no changes required.
For Teams New to Buildertrend Payables
Where do I start?
Start on the Bills page – your central workspace for Buildertrend Payables.
All bills and receipts flow into your inbox as drafts, where you can review, code, approve, and process payments.
What does my workflow look like?
- Submit or receive a bill (email, upload, or mobile)
- Review the draft bill in the Inbox
- Assign cost codes and link to a job or PO
- Send for approval (if needed)
- Finalize and process payment
Interested in Learning More? 📚
The Buildertrend Learning Academy is your one-stop-shop for your online education, whether you're new to Buildertrend or an experienced user looking to learn more.
If you have any questions or require additional support, feel free to chat with us, send an email: support@buildertrend.com, or give us a call at 1-888-415-7149. We’re always happy to help.
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